Finally Ginger
by Gallifrey Immigrant
Summary: To the Doctor, this felt like a whole new beginning. Supposed to come after the fanfilm "Ginger Chronicles: A Dame To Kill" on Youtube, and takes place in that continuity.


**A/N: The Doctor in here is not mine, but the Doctor of the fanfilm "Ginger Chronicles: A Dame To Kill." It's a fun fanfilm, (obviously I think so, since I decided to write a fanfic based on it), and I decided to write something based from it. I know it's kinda weird writing a fanfic based on a fanfilm. But I really liked the Doctor in that fic, and when you're inspired to write, you shouldn't judge where that inspiration comes from. This fic takes place after this fan-film, though you're not required to watch it to understand this. Besides that, the usual "if you read, please review" and "I own nothing of the BBC's creations" announcements. Enjoy! **

The Doctor looked in the silver-rimmed mirror, standing in one of the many bathrooms of the ship owned by the Time Lord (was it still appropriate to use the word "Lord" as a label?). The Doctor squinted at the face, pushing and prodding, testing out the new body. A whole new set of senses, feelings, and perceptions. (And new clothes—including black vest, blue shirt, and skirt-that the Doctor had recently procured, or more like stolen, and was supposed to be temporary. . .but the Doctor was thinking of keeping it. Especially the boots) When the Doctor had first regenerated, from a white-haired body to a black-haired clown, he was rather taken back by the changes. At that time, he had taken comfort in the thought that the ripping apart and reforming of regeneration would get easier after after he went through more lives. The Doctor laughed at the naivety of older times, and then blew a long hair that had wandered to the Gallifreyan's face. (Could the sonic work on hair? If not, the Doctor made a mental note to ask Liz for a good comb). No matter how many regenerations the Doctor had, it felt like the first time every single time. Though there was a very big difference between this regeneration and all the other ones.

SHE WAS GINGER!

"Ginger!" she shouted in utter exhilaration. Her voice resounded down the halls of the TARDIS.

"I am finally ginger," said the Doctor, turning around to look at her hair better, "and it's looong too. Could be longer, but why look a horse in the mouth?" She jumped up and down, grinning at having won the regenerative lottery. It had only taken 13...14...26—oh, she couldn't even remember the number of regenerations she'd had. Probably due to the effects of post-regenerative stress. Or maybe she was getting too old to care. Doing another twirl in front of the mirror, her sonic fell out of her vest.

Well, it wasn't exactly _her _sonic. She had recovered it from Koschei, after he tried to steal her regenerations again. Her exuberance lessened as she leaned on the mirror, remembering what she had been forced to do to place the Master in an inescapable trap. Deep down, she knew he ( or "she" for that matter) might be back one day. Had she done the right thing? Some might call it a cruel punishment, and in her younger years, she might have just let him go. But she had a responsibility as the Last of the Timelords (give or take a Master or a Rani). She couldn't take that risk. Leaning on the grey walls of the TARDIS, she wondered if the Master had really meant what he said about how saving the Doctor all those years ago wasn't out of friendship, but revenge. She had he was bluffing, but maybe he wasn't.

Maybe she was just being a romantic at hearts, remembering times long gone.

The Doctor caught a look of her red hair in the mirror, and remembered this was no time for sad thoughts. She was GINGER, for crying out loud. Her former joy returned, and she began singing "No matter how long I lived, I was never happy until I was ginger, and now I want the whole world to knoow...!"

A voice from a few rooms down said "Well, no need to worry: you're loud enough for the whole world to know!"

An embarrassed expression on her face, the Doctor made a clicking sound with her mouth, muttering "Note to self: do not sing your hearts out with two sleeping companions in earshot."

The Doctor turned around to see a frowning Liz. Liz, along with her recent husband Jim, were the newest visitors to the TARDIS. From her time with Liz so far, the Doctor perceived Liz to be a cautious woman, rather serious—except when it came to her darling Jim, of course. Along with her husband, Liz had taken in the Doctor when Jim found the alien lying unconscious on the grass, having regenerated from yet another harrowing death. They didn't know anything about regeneration at the time, of course, and the Doctor was quite certain Liz suspected the Doctor was insane when they first met. Actually, Liz probably still thought the Doctor was insane.

"Was I being a bit too loud?"asked the Doctor guiltily.

Liz sighed at the Doctor, who, with her wide eyes, looked like a puppy caught eating the carpet. Liz rubbed her eyes and said "I understand that you enjoy having ginger hair, but could you be a little quieter about it?"

"Sorry—it's just I've been wishing to be a ginger for a millennia" said the Doctor.

"And I've been waiting to get a good sleep all week,' pointed out Liz. The Doctor was already walking to the console room, though.

The Doctor knew that she should be quieter, but it was so hard with all this new energy she had. For the first time in a long time, she felt as young as she looked. This particular incarnation saw new details in every surface, new nuances in old places. Even the TARDIS was pulsing with new feeling—the sound of the old girl felt deeper, more resounding, more joyous. Entering the console room, the Doctor placed her fingers on the walls of the console room, and received a playful tingle of energy from the TARDIS in response. The ship had rested enough—it was time for adventure!

She began pushing buttons on the console, preparing for another journey through the vortex. At first, the Doctor was just going to set the randomizer on and let fate take them anywhere, but then considered her companions. They were 21st Century Americans—she could scare them away if she wasn't careful. Clicking he inside of her mouth, she decided to let them come up with the first location.

"Oh Jimbo and Liz, I've got a question for you"said the Doctor in a sing-song voice, craning her head to see beyond the big column in the center of her TARDIS. Well, it was kinda still the last Doctor's TARDIS. She hadn't refurbished yet. Or did any maintenance on the damage from the bumpy regeneration and attempted sabotage by the Master. There was still an odd glitch where if you looked at the inside TARDIS from more than 5 feet away, it looked like the inside of a normal police box.

"Don't worry, you sexy minx," said the Doctor, patting her ship, "I'll get you fixed up."

"Sexy minx?"

The Doctor whirled around, meeting the blue eyes of Jim. He was the one who found the Doctor, and had taken the craziness of the Doctor's emergence into his Liz's life slightly better than Liz. Though not by much. He looked at the Doctor with raised eyebrows.

The Doctor's face was bright red, and she muttered "So this is what Amy and Rory felt like when I used to barge in on them."

Liz was now in the TARDIS room as well. With her arm on her husband's shoulder, she asked "Who?"

"A married couple like you. Used to live here."

'So what are we doing now?" asked Jim. He was always up for jumping into adventure.

"Well that," started the Doctor, pausing for dramatic effect, "depends on you two. I'm letting you choose the first location. Will it be the New Roman planet in the Secrationas Galaxy, where giant lizard men debate Roman law and fight in gladiator tournaments! Or the Planet Feriae, where the Children of Adamtio have the most beautiful voices I've ever heard! Or the planet Ferris, where the planet is covered with a psionic field that makes everyone talk in iambic pentameter. Or somewhere else?"

The Doctor tapped her fingers on the console waiting for an answer. Jim scratched his beard in thought. Liz looked at the floor.

Sensing her companions' hesitation, the Doctor added, "It's whatever you choose—I won't judge you."

"Maybe we could try. . .London?" offered Liz.

A pause ensued for several seconds. Then, the Doctor replied "Sorry, translation circuits must be on the fritz, because I thought I heard you say London—as in the colony of Londinium made back in the times of the Roman Empire that, in your time, has a big clock called Ben."

"Yes, that London!" said Liz, grinning.

The Doctor stared at Liz in shocked silence, her mouth working up and down in an effort to find the appropriate response. Leaning on the console as if for support, the Doctor said "Let me make sure I understand. You can go anywhere in time and space, and you want to go to LONDON!"

Perceiving that the ship's pilot and his wife were about to get into an argument, Jim stepped in. "Well, Doctor, Liz has always wanted to go to London, and I think we should take it easy on our first few trips."

"And where do you want to go?" said the Doctor.

"Actually, that iambic planet sounded-" he started, then he looked at his wife's death glare and finished "like somewhere we can go after we go to London."

The Doctor huffed, and looked at the couple standing in front of her with a glare. Part of the Doctor felt like "accidentally" throwing a switch and landing them somewhere the Doctor wanted to go. (Certainly not London). But she was too old for those sort of immature piques now. She began to set the coordinates.

"You're taking us to London?" asked Liz suspiciously.

"Yes, and you owe me big time" said the Doctor. The familiar sound of the TARDIS lifting into the time vortex bellowed inside the ship. The Doctor walked from behind the console and grabbed both Jim's coat and Liz's shirt by the collars. Bringing them in close, she said "Just know one thing. You 2 are the most BORING people I have ever met."

Jim said "Hey, you're the one who asked us aboard."

The Doctor couldn't come up with a clever rebuke, so she just shushed them away.

As Liz and Jim walked to the TARDIS's closet, the Doctor allowed herself a small and secret smile. The bickering felt like old times with other companions. And the alien had always wanted to take another tour of London, anyway. Wrapping her red scarf around her neck, the Doctor felt more excited then she had in a long time. After all, what could go wrong in London?

Her internal voice replied 'Now, you know you're going to regret saying that." The Doctor ignored that voice. After all, the danger was part of the fun, no?

And if all hell broke loose, she could always take comfort in the fact that she was finally ginger.


End file.
